Want You Back

Chapter One

Chapter One 

"Good evening, Ms. Carson," Nolan, the fifty-something year old doorman, greeted me at the door. "Had a nice day?"

I smiled warmly at him, "Quite the opposite actually." It was true. I had to deal with a bridezilla as a client today and it was tough work. "You have yourself a good night, Nolan." He waved goodbye at me and I greeted some of the staff working at this building before stepping through the elevator doors. 

My apartment was on the 23rd floor and had a pretty good view of Manhattan. Although the rent was high, it was well worth it as this apartment had a spacious bedroom and bathroom. The kitchen was just the right size for myself who doesn't know how to cook and the living room was cozy. 

I was dead beat after today and plopped myself down on my couch staring out the window into the city lights. New York City. My only purpose for going here was college, but then decided to stay here and pursue my dreams of becoming a wedding planner. It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make in life. If I should go back to California where the beaches were, or the New York, the city life.

Suddenly, my cell phone blared out from my purse pulling me out of my thoughts. I fumbled for it in the bag and then answered with a quick "Hello?"

"Hey big sista," my brother Nathaniel said. 

"Nate, what is it? I've had a rough day and would like to rest," I replied gruffly.

"Okay, okay. I'll make this quick. Just don't freak out, okay?" 

I got up from the couch and decided to lay on my back on my bed. "Okay..." I answered hesitantly.

"Mom's in the hospital," Nate said it so bluntly I wanted to smack across the face for being so casual about it. 

My eyes bulged out and I immediately sat up on my bed. "WHAT?" Pain, sadness, anger, and panic coursed through my body like a bullet as soon as I heard those words. I felt my heart start to thump against my chest loudly. I tried blinking away my tears, not wanting to cry when I didn't even receive the news on why my mother was in the hospital. 

"Gee, I told you not to freak out!"

"Well of course I'm going to freak! Mom's in the hospital!"

All the things I wanted to tell her swarmed in my head. How much I love her and how I'm going to miss her so much if she leaves. I wanted to tell her how sorry I am for all the flower vases I broke in the house as a kid or all those times I yelled at her as a teenager when she grounded me. I just wanted to be able to talk to her one last time before she left. 

"She's fine! Everything is fine now. She just fell at her work and was unconscious," he casually said. I breathed a sigh of relief once I heard the news and was in peace for a bit. My racing heart started to beat normally again, but I was still on edge. Then he got a bit more serious. "Listen, Charlotte. The doctors said her heart condition is getting worse. They recommend she retires from her job before it worsens quickly, but you know our dear old mother. She's too stubborn and a workaholic to retire."

I sighed heavily on the phone. Ever since our father died during my second year of college, my mom hasn't been the same. She still cares for Nate and I but she just started to work too much and the heart condition she's always had has gotten worse. "Nate, what do you want me to do? Convince her to retire? We tried that last year and things didn't really work out."

"Charlotte, I know this is too much to ask but I really need to ask it," he started. "Now that I graduated from college this Spring, I found a new and steady job as a video game tester. It takes a lot out of my time and I just don't have any spare time to watch over Mom as much as I want."